Deepwater Wind opponents look to Maine as new power source

An application that will be heard before the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Wednesday, Oct. 9, to bring energy produced by a wind farm in Maine to Rhode Island has renewed calls from Deepwater Wind opponents about the cost of energy that would be supplied by the Block Island wind farm project.

Energy distribution company National Grid has applied to the Rhode Island PUC to purchase power from Champlain Wind, LLC, which has proposed to build a 16-turbine land-based wind farm in central Maine.

This application does not directly supply energy to Block Island because the island is not connected to National Grid's power distribution system.

However, Deepwater opponents claim that the electricity purchased from the Champlain Wind's project would be less expensive than the electricity purchased from Deepwater's offshore wind farm. Some opponents are calling for a re-negotiation of the Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) that was signed between National Grid and Deepwater.

"Land-based turbines placed in the correct places should be able to get lower pricing that’s closer to other sources of electricity," said Laurence Ehrhardt, a North Kingstown resident and former General Assembly member. Ehrhardt, along with former Rhode Island Attorney General Jim O'Neill, published an opinion piece in the Providence Journal on Sunday, Oct. 6 outlining his reasons for opposing Deepwater Wind.

A question remains as to how new energy sources from the mainland would be connected to Block Island if they do not come from Deepwater Wind. Deepwater Wind has said it would pay for the approximately $60 million it would cost to build a cable from Block Island to the mainland. But the cable has also proved controversial. The Narragansett Town Council unanimously rejected landing the cable on town land, and Deepwater Wind has now proposed landing it on state property at Scarborough Beach.

O'Neill said there is a solution to paying for the cable from the mainland to Block Island.

"If National Grid is providing the ratepayers energy that's at a reduced rate, then the ratepayers as a whole will be in a financial psoture to contrubite to the cable," said O'Neill.

O'Neill said that paying for a cable "is not a problem that can't be reconciled." He said the cost of the cable can be included as a line item in energy bills to National Grid customers and paid for over time. He also said the $60 million that's often cited as the cost of the cable may not be accurate. "That seems to be an extraordinary figure to me," said O'Neill. "Nobody has recently said what a sole cable would actually cost."

Champlain Wind LLC is proposing a 48 megawatt (MW) land-based wind turbine project located in Carroll Plantation in Carroll, Maine, according to a public notice issued by the PUC. The project will consist of 16 Siemens wind turbines at 3 megawatts (MW) each, and it will connect to National Grid's electricity distribution system at a substation in Maine.

If the PPA between National Grid and Champlain Wind is approved by the PUC, Champlain will sell the energy produced by its wind farm, called the Bowers Wind Project, to National Grid, at a fixed bundled cost of $78 per megawatt-hour (which translates to 7.8 cents per kilowatt-hour) according to National Grid testimony provided to the PUC.

In contrast, Deepwater will sell the electricity produced by its proposed five-turbine, 30 megawatt Block Island wind farm starting at 24 cents per kilowatt-hour (Kwh).

"We probably could have satisfied entire our entire renewable energy requirement with Maine and New Hampshire wind power," said Ehrhardt.  "I don’t see why you would say we need to be doing the Deepwater stuff at the same time."

Ehrhardt and O'Neill argued that because Deepwater would cost more than triple what Champlain would, Rhode Island consumers would be spending approximately $535 million each year than they need to.

While Ehrhardt acknowledges the fact that National Grid has signed an agreement with Deepwater, he believes there should be some re-negotiating about this agreement.

"There are contracts in place, so I'm not suggesting we just walk away from our obligations, as foolish as they may be," said Erhardt, referring to the PPA between National Grid and Deepwater. "Instead, we should consider contractual renegotiating, by trying to come up with a buyout asking Deepwater to reimburse us."

National Grid is required by Rhode Island state law to purchase a certain amount of power — 90 megawatts — generated from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. National Grid has signed PPAs with four other renewable energy companies, including Deepwater.

In testimony filed with the PUC, Corinne Abrams, National Grid's Public Manager of Environmental Transactions, said that the agreement with the agreement signed with Champlain Wind allows National Grid to reach 73.5 of this 90 megawatt requirement.

Abrams' testimony said: "Through the execution of the Rhode Island LFG Geneco Power Purchase Agreement for the Town of Johnston Project, the Power Purchase Agreement with Deepwater Wind, the Power Purchase Agreement with Orbit Energy  following the first annual solicitation, and the Black Bear PPA following the second solicitation, the company executed contracts for 53 percent of the 90 MW requirement. The Bowers Wind Project will enable the company to achieve 73.5 percent of the 90 MW of long-term contracting capacity."

In her testimony, Abrams explained the reason National Grid selected Champlain Wind for this PPA. Abrams said this project "represented the best value in terms of price because it ranked number one out of the four lowest bids received and was the highest scoring proposal."

The PUC will hold a public hearing about the Champlain agreement on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 10 a.m., at the PUC office, 89 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, R.I.